Understand how the leading smart contract network works
The second most valuable cryptocurrency in the world, Ether (ETH) is the asset that operates within Ethereum, a network focused on the development of so-called smart contracts – a creation that, in the future, could make the world much less bureaucratic.
Unlike Bitcoin, which focuses on value transfer, Ethereum deals with smart contracts. In practice, they guarantee automatic transfers of ownership. Remember the NFT craze? Well, that’s right. NFTs “live,” for the most part, within the Ethereum network. ETH, which is the currency of this network, does too, of course. If you own ETHs, they are, in a way, registered in your name (until you spend them). When you buy an NFT with them, the “ownership record” of the thing automatically goes to your name.
It seems trivial – when you buy a blender with Pix, the appliance becomes yours anyway. But there’s a trick here. If, one day, the ownership records of cars and properties are on a network like Ethereum, all you need to do is buy the car with the currency from that network for the ownership of the car or house to be transferred to your name – without the avalanche of bureaucracy that exists today.
Despite its great success, Ethereum still struggles to improve, especially in areas such as scalability and operating costs, which are often quite high. At the same time, several competitors are emerging, such as Solana and Cardano, but no one has yet managed to take Ethereum's throne as the king of smart contracts.